Sea Turtles

A sea turtle hatchling made it into Gulf waters last year, which is the first hurdle to clear in a long journey filled with danger as the sand-dollar-sized hatchling grows to weigh 200 pounds or more over the next several decades; baby sea turtles often head to huge piles of sargassum seaweed in the southern Atlantic Ocean where there is plenty for them to eat and a lot of nooks and crannies to hide from predators

Sea turtles set to crawl onto Florida's shores to nest again this summer; conservationists hope hurricanes, predators stay away

Tom Bayles

It's sea turtle nesting season. Dont forget to turn out your lights at night on the beach and stay away from momma sea turtles when they are nesting

All of the sampling sites where Gulf waters were tested for red tide during the last ten days are grey, meaning the recent bloom that stretched from Tampa Bay to Key West has left Southwest Florida's coastal waters

Environment

Beach advisories cancelled as red tide from Tampa Bay to Key West fades

Tom Bayles

The Florida Department of Health in Lee County lifted nearly a dozen health alerts due to red tide

Environment

Sea turtle nest counts for 2024: lower numbers for some species, solid, record numbers for others

WGCU Staff

The Florida Fish and Wildlife's Research Bulletin for February reports that 2024 nesting numbers for sea turtles were no surprise, recording lower numbers for some species but also posting solid and record-breaking counts for other species.The counts are the result of the Florida Index Nesting Beach Survey which records sea turtle nest counts on a standardized set of index beaches. Researchers use the annual survey to determine nesting trends.

Environment

Sea turtle rehab facility being rebuilt at Sanibel animal hospital devastated by Hurricane Ian

Tom Bayles

It will soon be a new day in the treatment of sick and injured sea turtles at the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife on Sanibel Island. Hurricane Ian devastated the nonprofit wildlife hospital in September 2022

A young manatee rolls on its back as it enjoys the morning at Manatee Park in Lee County.

Environment

Cold snaps stressing the health of endangered manatees, sea turtles

Tom Bayles

Manatees and sea turtles are vulnerable to cold snaps like the Arctic blasts this month as cold air can drop the temperature of shallow water along Southwest Florida’s Gulf Coast by two degrees every day

A loggerhead sea turtle hatchling makes its way toward the water on Keewaydin Island.

Environment

How tropical systems impacted sea turtle nesting on Keewaydin Island in Collier County

Mike Kiniry

The 2024 nesting season is being described as "steady" even though several storms disrupted hatching success. Southwest Florida’s beaches faced multiple wash-over events, including Tropical Storms Debbie & Francine, and Hurricanes Helene & Milton. On Keewaydin Island in Collier County approximately 43% of nests were lost to impacts from these storms. Overall, there were 425 nests on the island (almost all loggerhead turtles) and about 242 of them were successful. Monitors from the Conservancy of Southwest Florida estimate that 14,975 hatchlings made it to the Gulf from nests just on Keewaydin Island. We talk with someone who has been keeping tabs on sea turtles in southwest Florida for decades.

Baby turtle on Keewaydin Island during 2024 nesting season.

Hurricane Recovery

Conservancy of Southwest Florida wraps sea turtle nesting season; storms had big effect on outcome

WGCU Staff

Turtle nest numbers were steady on Collier County's Keewaydin Island, but several storms disrupted hatchling success by almost half.

Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation staff locate and document a loggerhead sea turtle journey on Sanibel Island beach during a nesting survey in May 2023.

Environment

Sea turtles, a Florida conservation success story, face a new threat

Luena Rodriguez-Feo Vileira

Florida’s sea turtle nests survived an intense hurricane season. But climate change poses an uncertain future for the beloved beach icons.

Volunteers and staff with the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation will be assessing the island's turtle nests in the coming days to determine how many were damaged or ruined by Tropical Storm Debby, which strengthened after passing more than 100 miles west of the Lee County barrier islands and made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane in the Big Bend

Hurricane

Sea turtle nests on Florida's Gulf Coast take back-to-back beatings by first-half season hurricanes

Tom Bayles

Last year, sea turtle nests were lost when Hurricane Idalia whipped up Florida's Gest Coast before making landfall in the Big Bend during the last week of August as a Category 4 storm. This year, Hurricane Debby disturbed sea turtle nests again along that coast before making landfall in the Big Bend during the first week of August as a Category 1.

Thousands of sea turtle nests will hatch in Southwest Florida throughout this summer and fall, so if you see a local beach swarmed with hatchlings turtle scientists say to leave the baby turtles alone, move off the beach, and certainly do not help the animals

Environment

Sea turtles are packing Southwest Florida beaches with nests

Tom Bayles

This year's sea turtle nesting season is going great, with a leatherback on Sanibel and early nesting throughout the region. But few turtle lovers forget last season when early signs were record-breaking but the season's results were heart-breaking